Q4 growth came from positive contributions from domestic demand. Gross fixed capital formation, especially in construction but also in machinery and equipment, increased markedly compared with Q3 2018. While household final consumption expenditure increased slightly, general government final consumption expenditure was markedly up at the end of the year

2018 GDP was an annualized 1.4%

Quarterly growth was Q1 +0.4%, Q2 +0.5%, Q3 -0.2%, Q4 0.0%

Exports slowdown

Global trade tensions aside, Germany’s main export is … mainly diesel vehicles which are getting more unpopular globally thanks to cheat emissions devices by well – German car manufactures. How dependent is Germany on car exports? See figure below,

Germany expected to grow slower in 2019 than in 2018

The European Commission, the IMF and other economists are all expecting Germany to grow at 1.1% in 2019, slower than the 1.4% achieved in 2018. These figures are estimated on an orderly Brexit, what might happen in case of a no-deal Brexit is another story altogether.